Tigers lead nation in total snaps, but Morris says even more is possible

Clemson’s 8-0 start has been buoyed by an offense that is averaging 40.6 points per game.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 24 14:53:02 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – The Clemson offense currently leads the nation in number of snaps taken with 626, 12 more than second place Texas Tech and thirty more than third place Indiana.

Even offensive coordinator Chad Morris can get excited about a number like that, and he said the offensive players are, too.

"They're excited about that, I can tell you that," Morris said during his Monday meeting with the media. "We shared that with them today, and they were high-fiving each other, because that's a goal we have set for ourselves. We want to be able to push the limits. They are starting to see that with the success they are having in the second half. A lot of that has to do with the tempo we are putting on them in the first half."

Clemson’s 8-0 start has been buoyed by an offense that is averaging 40.6 points per game – 12 more than head coach Dabo SwinneyDabo Swinney

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The offense is playing with so much confidence right now, according to Morris, that anything less than a scoring drive is a disappointment.

"They're getting to the point right now when they step on the field for a drive and we have to punt the football, they come off to the sidelines and they're upset,” Morris said. “They want to know what happened. 'How come we didn't score?' When you start seeing that with those guys, and you start going over to the offensive linemen and they're upset, that's what you want. You want them to play with that type of confidence and that type of disappointment when we're not scoring.”

Morris was asked if the number of snaps is where he wants to be, and he said he feels like the offense can get even better.

“If you look at it, we had seven three-and-outs against Virginia Tech,” Morris said. “We had two three-and-outs last week against North Carolina. If we could just cut those in half, where could we be at right now? We are leading the country right now, but we have to continue to press on. We could have gone faster the other day, but we did play at a slower pace in the fourth quarter so that cut our snap count.”

Now, he wants to make sure he keeps that confidence level by not adding too much to the offense each week, saying that he has about 70 percent of his total offense installed, but is careful to not overwhelm them at this point.

“As a coach, you have to be real careful,” he said. “I told our offensive staff, ‘Just because we are mastering some things and the guys are grasping what you are asking them to do, you can’t add too much.’ The absolute worst thing we can do right now is confuse them. Players that are confused don’t play confident – they play slow. This offense is built around speed and being physical. We can't have guys playing slow and not physical. But we aren’t where we need to be – there is still a lot to correct and improve on.”

Other numbers from the Clemson offense

*The Tigers are averaging 6.17 yards per play.

*The Tigers are 6th in offensive touchdowns with 41. Houston is first with 47, Wisconsin and Oregon each have 46, Stanford and Oklahoma St. each have 45, Boise St. has 43 and Georgia Tech has 42.

*Clemson is 15th in the nation at 482.5 yards per game. Houston is first with 606 yards per game.